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A video grab shows a foot among the wreckage of a building following an earthquake in Padang on Indonesia's Sumatra island - Source: Reuters -
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Rescue teams struggled to reach scores of people trapped under
debris and survivors pleaded for aid after a powerful quake hit the
Indonesian city of Padang, possibly killing thousands.
The 7.6 magnitude quake struck the bustling port city of 900,000
people on Wednesday, toppling hundreds of buildings.
Telephone connections were patchy, making it hard for officials
to work out the extent of destruction and loss of life.
"I have been through quakes here before and this was the worst.
There is blood everywhere, people with their limbs cut off. We saw
buildings collapsed, people dying," said American Greg Hunt, 38,
who was at Padang airport.
A reporter in the city said rescuers were pulling people from
buildings, but there was little sign of much aid being distributed
yet. Fuel was also in short supply and there was a report of
looting, while some shops had run out of food.
Health Minister Siti Fadillah Supari told reporters at an airport
in Jakarta before leaving for Padang that the number of dead could
be numbered in the thousands, given the widespread damage.
A worker compiling disaster data at the social ministry put the
number killed of confirmed deaths at 529.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who arrived back from the G20
meeting on Thursday, told reporters the country could coordinate
the relief efforts but welcomed help from abroad.
Australia, South Korea and Japan were among nations offering aid or
help.
Two Indonesian Hercules transport planes carrying medical aid, as
well as 20,000 tents and 10,000 blankets, also flew to Padang on
Thursday, the state Antara news agency reported.
A 6.6 magnitude quake hit another part of Sumatra Island on
Thursday, causing fresh panic but no reported deaths. The second
quake's epicentre was about 225 km southeast of Padang, the US
Geological Survey said.
Elshinta radio reported that 12 people were hurt in the town of
Jambi and 60 houses damaged.
Hospital damaged
A two storey clinic at Padang's main hospital collapsed but was
empty at the time after closing a few hours before the quake.
Patients from adjacent wards were evacuated to nearby tents, while
a makeshift morgue was also setup in the open air with lines of
corpses placed in yellow body bags.
One distraught man collapsed after identifying his daughter as one
of the victims.
Operations were being conducted in nearby white tents.
"We have done hundreds of operations since the earthquake," said Dr
Nofli Ichlas.
"Some broken bones, some with limbs completely cut off.
Fractured skulls, abdominal trauma too - when something has stabbed
into the patients body."
Heavy rain initially hampered rescue efforts and officials said
power had been cut in Padang, which lies on a coastal plain and is
surrounded by steep mountains that stretch far inland.
Damage to roads had affected transport of rubber in West Sumatra,
the fifth-largest producing province for rubber in Indonesia.
Sumatra also has some of Indonesia's largest oil fields as well as
a liquefied natural gas terminal, but there were no reports of
damage at those facilities.
People crowd airport to flee city
Sumatra is one of the world's most seismically active places.
A 9.15 magnitude quake, its epicentre 600 km northwest of
Padang, caused the 2004 tsunami that killed 230,000 people in
Indonesia and other Asian nations.
Australian businesswoman Jane Liddon told Australian radio from
Padang that the city centre was devastated.
"The big buildings are down. The concrete buildings are all down,
the hospitals, the main markets, down and burned."
The Ambacang Hotel had also collapsed and an official said people
remained trapped in the Dutch colonial-era building.
On the road into the Padang area, Nasaruddin, 45, had constructed a
make-shift shelter from poles and a tarpaulin to try and shelter
his family after his house had collapsed.
"We just ask that people know that we need donations very badly.
Look at my family," said the father-of-four.
Padang's airport was operating, although many people were camping
out on prayer mats as they tried to flee the city, while soldiers
and aid groups such as the Red Crescent arrived.
Patrick Werner, 28, a German tourist at the airport, was on a beach
when the quake struck. Some overseas visitors use Padang as an
entry point to visit nearby beaches and mountains.
"We saw some cracks emerge in the soil and water come out of the
ground like it was Universal Studios," he said.
Officials said more heavy equipment such as bulldozers, excavators
and concrete cutters were badly needed.
